Circuit-controller.



W. C. REED.

CIRCUIT CONTROLLER.

APPLlCATlOH FILED SEPT- 11. 1914.

1,152,843. PatentedSept. 7', 1915.

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COLUMBIA FLANOGIIAPH c0.. WASHINGTON. D. c.

warm ng cgnnnnorp amou, MASSACHUSETTS, assronoarornn TE ELECrBIC COM--PAN'Y, OFIITTSFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS, A COBIGRATION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

CIRCUIT-'CONTBQLLER.

.Original application filedAugust-ZS, 19LO,-Seria1 No. 578,587.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 7,1915.

-l3ivitled and this application-filed September 311,.1914. Serial No.861,319.

T 0 all whom it may. concern Be it known that I, lVAL'rnaC. .Rnnn, acitizen of the United States, residing at Dalton, in the county ofBerkshire and State of lJIassachusetts, have invented new and use- :fulimprovements in Circu-it- Controllers, of

which the following is a specification.

In a co-pending application filed 9n the 28rd day of August, 1910,SerialNo. 518,584, I have shown and described an electrically operated pianoplayer in which provision 1s made for opening and closing simultaneouslya number of branch circuits by means of which the resistance ofcorresponding playing-magnet circuits is appropriately varied to produceexpression effects 1n the compositions played. For controlling thesebranch circuits it is important to employ a device which is adapted notonly to open or close simultaneously a considerable number of circuitsbut also to be operated electrically and very quickly, and the sub ectmatter of the present application is a circult controller having thecharacteristics ust referred to, this application being a division of myaforesaid application Serial No. 578.587.

My circuit controller may have various forms and may be utilized inconnection with circuits which are normally either open or closed, andby way of example I have illustrated in the accompanying drawing thepreferred construction of my circuit controller when used in connectionwith circuits which are normally open.

Figure 1 of the drawing shows the controller in vertical section; Fig. 2is a top plan View of the controller; and Fig. 3 is an elevation of thesame as viewed from the right in Fig. 2.

The circuit controller illustrated in the drawing comprises aninsulating block 2 mounted on a suitable base 3 and carrying any desirednumber of spring contact devices, which preferably consist of horizontalspring wires 4 located side by side in proximity to but out of contactwith one another. The free end portions of these wires extend over andrest simultaneously upon an insulating support 5 which is movable upwardand downward and is pressed upward by a spring 6. The upward pressure.exertediby this springv 6 is opposed to the springaction of the \WIFQSl, so that when these partsv are. not otherwiseacted upon the collectiveeffect of said wiresjust balances the effect of the spring 6 and theparts remain at wrest;

Each of the wires i is adapted to more into and out of engagement with acorre sponding metallic pin or other contact piece 7 carried by aninsulating support 8, and in the particular construction illustrated, inwhich the controller is normally in opencircuit position, said pins 7are located be low and just out of contact with metallic contact pieces9 carried by the respective wires 4. Each spring wire 4 and thecorresponding pin 7 are connected respectively to circuit wires 10 and11, which may be included in any circuit which it is desired to open andclose by the operation of the controller.

Whenever the support 5 is in the elevated position illustrated all thecircuits will evidently be open, but if said support is moved downwardagainst the pressure of the spring 6 all the circuits will be closed atthe pins 7 by the spring action of the wires 4. Such movement of thesupport 5 may be effected in any suitable manner, but preferably, as inthe construction illustrated, said support is attached on its under sideto the upper ends of soft-iron rods 12 which are arranged to movevertically within the coils 13 of an electro-magnet and form a plungerar1na ture therefor. These rods are normally lifted partially out of themagnet coils by the spring 6, and hence whenever the mag net is enerized said rods are drawn into the coils and carry the support 5 withthem, thereby causing the various circuits through the wires 4; to beclosed as above explained.

It will be observed that the form of circuit controller above describedis wholly free from pivotally mounted or sliding parts opposingfrictional resistance to its operation, and this fact, as well as thebalancing of the spring action on the support for the contact wires,renders the controller sensitive in the sense that a relatively weakcurrent sent through the magnet coils will. sufflee to operate it veryquickly. It is also structurally simple and inexpensive, all of whichcharacteristics are important in a circuit controller intended to beused in a piano player of the type above referred to.

I claim 1. A circuit controller comprising a series of circuitconnections each including an insulated spring wire and a cooperatingcontact terminal, a support on which the spring wires rest collectively,and a spring acting on said support in opposition to the spring wiresand normally balancing the collective effect of the same.

2. A circuit controller comprising a series of insulated spring wireseach of which is adapted to be connected to one branch of an electriccircuit, a corresponding series of insulated metallic terminals adaptedto be Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, byaddressing the Commissioner of Patents,

tember, 1914.

WALTER C. REED. Witnesses:

E. D. CHADWICK, EVERETT E. KENT.

Washington, D. G.

